Sunday, April., 25th

Twins Talk

Twins 9 (13-5) Royals 7 12 innings

• Talk about a crazy game as the Twins obviously did not play their best in a rain soaked game last night with the Royals, but still found a way to win the game in 12 innings in a 9-7 victory that clinched the Twins sixth straight series win to start the season. The Twins showed that they are very resielient as they battled back from a 5-1 deficit to pull out the win thanks to a Denard Span base hit in the 12th inning. Nick Blackburn got the start for the Twins and really was not very good for the second consecutive start against the Royals. In this one Blackburn only lasted 4.1 innings and gave up six runs on 10 hits although only five were earned to raise his era on the year to 6.84. Something tells me that Blackburn is not right with that elbow because he is not a great pitcher, but he is better than this. My take is he is probably not being totally honest about how his elbow feels as every pitch he threw was up in the strike zone. They were belt high pitches that Kansas City took advantage of and drilled. I hope the Twins talk to him and really get soem answers because he can't continue to pitch like this. Ron Mahey then came on and pitched a shutout inning on two hits along with a strikeout. He was followed by Pat Neshek who got two outs along with a strikeout. Jesse Crain then came on and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings on one hit to lower his era on the year to 7.36. Brian Duensing then came on and got two outs along with a walk to lower his era to 2.00. Matt Guerrier then came on and struggled through two innings, but found a way to escape without any runs allowed on two hits along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era to 0.79. Jon Rauch then followed in the 11th inning with the Twins up a run and gave up back to back hits to tie the score and suffer his first blown save as a Twin. He had guys on 1st and 3rd with one out, but found a way to escape more damage and give a chance to the Twins to win it in the 12th. In all Rauch went two innings and gave up a run on three hits along with a walk to increase his era to 2.00 and pick up his first win of the year.

• The Twins offensive put up quite a performance scoring nine runs on 14 hits along with drawing six walks. The run total would have been much much more, but the Twins left 13 guys on base in this one. The Twins were led by guess who Mr. MVP Joe Mauer who had his best game of the year in this one. Mauer went 5-6 at the plate with his seventh double, first triple, and drove in his 11th and 12th runs of the year. Mauer was only a homerun short of hitting for the cycle in this one. His sacrafice fly in the 12th probably was just as important as any hit he got because it put the Twins up two and less pressure on Twins closer Jon Rauch. With the five hits Mauer increased his average up to .381 on the year. Justin Morneau went 2-5 at the plate with the biggest hit of the game as he turned a 6-4 Royals lead into a 6-6 tie with a two run homerun in the 7th inning. It was his third home run of the year and had two rbi's to bring his total on the year to 13. He also added his fourth double of the year. With the two hits Morneau is now hitting .359. Michael Cuddyer went 2-4 at the plate with a walk and his fourth double along with driving in his 14th and 15 runs of the year to bring his average up to .333. Brendan Harris went 1-4 at the plate with his first double of the year. Orlando Hudson went 1-7 at the plate with his fifth double and his fifth rbi. Delmon Young went 1-5 at the dish with his third double of the season. Denard Span and Alexi Casilla each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Twins.

• Today, the Twins finish off their series with Kansas City as Kevin Slowey gets the start for the Twins against Royals pitcher Brian Bannister. Gametime is at 1:10 at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City.

Rochester Wrap

Syracuse 6 Rochester 3 (6-10)

• The Red Wings had their third straight loss to Syracuse with a 6-3 loss yesterday afternoon that they couldn't pitch effectively or get any big hits in the loss yesterday to Syracuse. Glen Perkins got the start for Rochester and was not very good once again as he only lasted 3.2 innings and gave up five runs on six hits along with three walks and four strikeouts to raise his era to 10.80 and dropped his record to 0-2. I really can't figure out why Perkins can not get AAA hitters out as he was a decent major league pitcher before this season. I don't know if its that he is so mad about being in AAA or if he is injured or what. If he wants to be traded he has got to be better because right now he is pretty much untradable and I can't see the Twins releasing him no matter how bad he does in AAA because they used a first round pick on him and he has shown something at the big leagues. Kyle Waldrop then came on and continued his early season success by going 2.1 scoreless to lower his era on the year to 0.73. Rob Delaney then came on and gave up one runs on one hit a homerun along with a walk and two strikeouts to raise his era to 6.23. Anthony Slama finished the game by pitching a perfect ninth inning to lower his era to 1.80.

• The Red Wings offense could not get it going in this one as they were only able to score three runs on twelve hits as they left 13 guys on base in this one. This was a game that the offense let get away as they should have scored way more than the three runs they scored in this one. The Red Wings were led by once again Trevor Plouffe who continued his early on success by going 3-5 to bring his average on the year up to .317. Matt Macri made his season debut going 2-3 at the plate with his first double along with two walks. Jason Repko went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .314. Danny Valencia had one of his best days of the year going 2-5 at the plate with his fourth rbi to bring his average up to .176. Brock Peterson went 1-5 at the plate with his second double of the year and his seventh rbi. Erik Lis went 1-4 at the plate with his second double and 8th rbi of the year. Matt Tolbert also contributed a bas hit in the losing cause for the Red Wings of Rochester in this game.

• Today, the Red Wings continue their series with Syracuse as Ryan Mullins is scheduled to pitch today for Rochester. Gametime is at 12:35 at Frontier Field in Rochester.

New Britain Business

Harrisburg 15 New Britain 5 (4-12)

• The Rockcats were out of the game last night in the top of the first as they gave up 6 runs in the top of the first to put the game away. Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Rockcats and was not very good in this one. Gutierrez lasted four innings and gave up eight runs on ten hits along with a walk and three strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 6.63 and drop his record to 0-1. Every starting pitcher is going to have stinkers like this every once in a while the only difference is its early in the season and he hasn't built up numbers yet so his era went through the roof. Gutierrez will be fine and I have no doubt that he will bounce back and pitch well next time around. Joe Testa then came on and was not very good either, but his defense did not help him at all as they committed three errors which led to two unearned runs. Testa went two innings and gave up three runs although only one of them were earned on four hits along with two walks and four strikeouts to lower his era to 11.05. Henry Arias then came on and got drilled in this one giving up four runs on five hits along with a walk and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work to raise his era to 9.53. Henry Arias is probably on his last leg in the organization as he gets drilled onsistantly and I would be surprised if he made it through the season as a member of the Twins organization. I hope I am wrong because you never want to see a persons dream end, but at the same time you got to admit that someone is not doing the job. Cole Devries finished the game off with 1.1 scoreless innings on three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.09.

• The Rockcats did ok offensively in this one putting up five runs and that is quite a bit for them as they have struggled with the bats all year. The Rockcats were led by Ben Revere who went 2-3 at the plate along with two walks to bring his average up to .313. This is the first time Revere has been over .300 in quite a while, but it was only a matter of time as he is such a good hitter that I really believe Ben Revere could fall out of bed and hit .300. Mark Dolenc got a start and went 2-4 at the plate with two rbi's to bring his season total up to 6 and his average up to .303. Esterlin De Los Santos went 1-3 at the plate with his third double of the year and his third rbi. Juan Portes went 1-4 at the plate with his third double. Rene Tosoni went 1-5 at the plate with his second triple of the year. Joe Benson also contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats of New Britain in this game yesterday.

• The Rockcats had their game with Harrisburg rained out and will next play Richmond Monday night in New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Palm Beach 5 Fort Myers 2 (5-10)

• The Miracle lost their second straight to Palm Beach with a tough to take 5-2 loss that saw good pitching from starter Kyle Gibson and bad relief pitching and no hitting which is becoming a norm for Jake Mauer and the Miracle. Gibson got the start for the Miracle and was good once again, but pitch count only allowed him to make it 5 innings in this one. Gibson worked five innings and gave up a run on only four hits along with three walks and four strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.49. Gibson has done everything that Twins fans have been hoping out of him and showed that he is healthy and a good high upside pitcher. Look for Gibson to be up in New Britain by midseason and possibly a member of the Twins by next season. Tony Davis then came on and gave up a run on a hit along with three walks to lower his era to 3.00. He was followed by Michael Allen who pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to keep the game tied on two walks and three strikeouts to lower his era to 6.43. Billy Bulluck then came on and got drilled in this one giving up three runs on two hits along with two walks and two strikeouts in one inning of work to pick up the loss and drop his record to 0-2 and see his era rise to 6.48.

• Offensively, the Miracle did not do a whole lot scoring only two runs on five hits along with drawing three walks. The Miracle were led by guess who Yangervis Solarte went 3-4 at the plate with his fourth double of the year to bring his average up to .372 on the year and show that he should be playing everyday for the Miracle right now. Chris Hermann also contributed his fifth double of the year. Chris Cates also contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Palm Beach as Michael Tarsi is scheduled to pitch for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 at Hammonds Stadium in Fort Myers as the Miracle try to rebound.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 7 (10-7) Wisconsin 5

• The Snappers won their third consecutive game with a nice 7-5 win after blowing a 5-2 eighth inning lead that allowed Wisconsin to tie the game in the eighth inning. Dan Osterbrock got the start for Beloit and was good once again going seven innings and giving up two runs on five hits along with a walk and eight strikeouts to lower his era to 3.10. Peter Kennelly then came on and gave up three runs on two hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era up to 7.71. Steve Blevins then came on and pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up one hit along with two walks to lower his era to 1.23 even though he blew his first save of the year. Edgar Ibarra then worked the last 2/3 of an inning with a strikeout to get his first save of the year and lower his era to 3.60.

• The Snappers did well offensively in this one scoring seven runs on 13 hits along with drawing six walks. It would have been more but the Snappers left 13 guys on base in this one. The Snappers were led by Aaron Hicks who continued his unbelievable resurgence going 4-5 at the plate with his second homerun of the year and his fifth rbi to bring his average up to .268. Hicks revival has been quite remarkable as I thought he would eventually get it going, but I thought it would be a gradual thing not a hot streak like he is on. After starting out the season 1-31 Hicks in his last six games is 14-30 a .467 average to get his average back in respectable terms. Josmil Pinto also had a big game going 4-5 as well with his first and second doubles along with his first stolen base to bring his average up to .242. Tobias Streich went 2-4 with his second double of the year and brought his average up to .160. James Beresford continued his improved play going 2-5 at the plate with his fourth rbi to bring his average up to .137. Angel Morales went 1-5 at the plate with his third homerun and two rbi's to bring his season total up to 11.

• Today, the Snappers finish off their weekend series with Wisconsin as they go for the sweep. Miguel Munoz is scheduled to pitch today for the Snappers. Gametime is at 1:05 in Appleton.